- Date
- August 5, 1998, 17:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- New Bern, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1266CPiper PA-22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980805019739A
- Case key
- 43625
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the inner cable of the carburetor heat cable assembly that prevented the application of carburetor heat. Factors were conditions favorable for the formation of carburetor ice.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Less than one hour into the flight, the engine developed a rough condition, and the pilot decided to apply carburetor heat. When he pulled the carburetor heat lever to apply heat, the inner cable pulled completely out, and he could not apply carburetor heat. Since the engine power condition continued to deteriorate, the pilot elected to return home. Unable to maintain altitude, and still less than a mile from the shore, the pilot was forced to ditched the airplane about 1500 feet from the shoreline. Examination of the carburetor heat cable assembly disclosed that the inner movable cable was worn to a point. The cable failed about eighteen inches from the attach point on the carburetor. The pilot reported that the failed section of the worn inner cable was positioned at a bend in the cable assembly. A review of weather data revealed that conditions were favorable for the formation of carburetor ice.
Factual narrative
On August 5, 1998, at 1750 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-22, N1266C, ditched in five feet of water, according to the pilot, following a complete loss of engine power near New Bern, North Carolina. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. According to the pilot, visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot also reported that the airframe sustained substantial structural damage. The pilot said that he was not injured. The local flight departed New Bern, North Carolina, at 1700.
According to the pilot, less than one hour into the flight, the engine developed a rough condition, and he decided to apply carburetor heat. When he pulled the carburetor heat lever to apply heat, the inner cable pulled completely out, and he could not apply carburetor heat. Since the engine power condition continued to deteriorate, the pilot elected to return home. Unable to maintain altitude, and still less than a mile from the shore, the pilot was forced to ditch the airplane about 1500 feet from the shoreline.
Examination of the carburetor heat cable assembly disclosed that the inner movable cable was worn to a point. The failure was about eighteen inches from the attach point on the carburetor. The pilot reported that the failed section of the worn inner cable was positioned at a bend in the cable assembly. The carburetor heat cable assembly had been installed on the airplane for 800 hours.
A review of weather data from the nearest reporting facility revealed that conditions were favorable for the formation of carburetor ice.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1266C
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-1061
- Airframe hours
- 1,950
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D-2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Randall E. Bernard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 28, 1998 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- EWN
- Airport
- EWN · Craven County Regional, runway 31, 4,200 × 50 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,200 total · 400 in this make and model · 90 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EWN, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.